"… Torioi." Kisaragi was already waiting at the table at
KickStand when you arrived.
"Kisaragi." You sat down, and winced at the rattle of the chainmail underneath the silk and linen. Despite your and Iwai's best efforts, your new kunoichi getup steadfastly refused to become the casual clothes you'd only purchased a day or two prior. At which point, Iwai had shrugged and told you that it'd probably wear off eventually.
Probably.
"You look ridiculous, which is to say, par for the course for magic. What happened?"
You attempted to deflect, since you knew damned well you looked ridiculous, but did
not want to have to explain this four times. "It's college, we can wear what we like."
Kisaragi stared at you.
Ah, is that what that felt like?
"I see. Then, why did you decide that dressing like this was a good idea today? Is there something I should be concerned about?"
Scrambling for an explanation, you hurriedly doubled down. "Haven't you ever needed to sneak in after the bell?"
"Wait, aren't we in college? Why are you sneaking in after the bell?" There was a brief pause, where you contemplated answering that question, when she added, "No, wait, before that, what in the world makes you think you can sneak in this getup!?"
[Face Danger +Rapport: 1+3 vs 1, 1 MATCH]
Finally, you figured out what was going on. Man, Kisaragi had an odd sense of humor. "Well, it worked just fine before?"
"When did this work 'just fine', tell me, please."
"At the studio!"
"
Are you telling me you stole this getup from a film studio!?"
"It's fine, don't worry about it. They won't be able to find me," you continued.
"Why not?"
"Well…"
"Well?"
"I managed to sneak out with it, didn't I?"
"Wh— What!?" Kisaragi shouted before wheezing, and at last breaking up with laughter so hard she was nearly crying.
You broke up right along with her, leaning against the table.
"What in the world makes you think—" But it was no good, she collapsed in another fit of giggles.
By the time the two of you recovered, you realized that Yumeno, Asamiya, and Morisawa were already there.
"I'm not sure I want to know," Asamiya said.
"It's for sneaking, of course!" you replied, by now fully committed to the bit.
"
She doesn't want to know about the kunoichi getup!" Kisaragi said before desperately trying to get a hold of herself and failing.
"Are you sure? It really stands out," you continued. "The very first thing you noticed!"
"
So you knew it stood out the whole time after all!"
KISARAGI REI [XX] [XX] [XX] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Asamiya pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath in. "All right, that's enough for this manzai routine, you two. Or else we'll be here all day building on it."
"You can build on a ninja suit like that? It already looks perfect for her, though," Yumeno said.
Morisawa wheezed a little, but cleared her throat. "I, uh, I do think it needs a
little explanation, given you left my place in some pretty normal clothing."
"Well, we already knew she was some kind of ninja," Yumeno said. "Maybe she—"
"No, I'll explain, I'll, I'll explain! Now that everyone's here," you said, still breathing hard. "Just let me— let me catch my breath."
They waited for a moment.
You paused. "I— Well, I'm not sure where to begin, really. It was during tryouts week, so not all that long after I met all of you. I was wandering the library and ended up…
not in the library."
"— The Understacks?" Yumeno said, paying more attention. "I hunted a Star there, once. The hard part was getting around the two librarians."
"— Two? There's only one now. Iwai-sensei, the vice-head librarian." You paused again. "She… She knew my parents, but I think you know that already. I'm beginning to suspect the people who didn't know my parents is a very short list, composed largely of myself."
Yumeno winced, just a little.
You wished you didn't take just a little satisfaction from that, but not enough to take it back. "And that's why, when I said that I didn't know how I got in, she eventually offered to train me. I've been going on and off, when I could get a chance, over the last few weeks. That's how I was able to work in the steam tunnels… Effectively, if not wisely— I was literally shaping a path."
"Ohhhh," Yumeno said, with a sudden nod.
Everyone else looked completely lost, but nodded along rather than leave Yumeno out.
"When… While I was in there, I…" You paused. The words
that was when I met Kazue, despite being what you were thinking, refused to get around your tight lips, your closing throat. "I'm not sure how much to tell. It's… Important to know because of what happened today, but…"
"You met someone in there," Asamiya said, suddenly. "Someone important to you, probably someone you're not comfortable talking about. But… That's not possible, because you've been so isolated…"
"Oh, that part's easy," Yumeno brought up. "The Understacks are a… A combined record of thoughts and emotions, dreams and desires."
"And, given what I know," Morisawa said, after a moment, "I'll bet it really was someone you know. Someone you're close to, but… Wrong."
"Great, you're all doing
that thing again," Kisaragi grumbled. "Let me know when we're going to punch the magic in the face."
You found yourself sweating. "Her name was Kaneko Kazue," you admitted.
That pulled Kisaragi right back into the conversation, and suddenly you realized they were all waiting on your next words.
"I. She. Even though I only knew her for a few days at best, of course she was very familiar to me. How many times had I hoped that I could treat Ichigo like a sister?" You paused and shook your head. "No, that's not right. Not like a sister at all, really."
YUMENO SAKURA [XX] [XX] [XX] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
MORISAWA RIN [XX] [XX] [XX] [XX] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
ASAMIYA YUKI [XX] [XX] [XX] [XX] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
You buried your head in your arms, sliding your face down past your palms and into the table. "Of course, there's a lot about that trip that's not as simple, but… What's more important is how it ended. She asked me to stay with her. I. I can't of course. Asking me that is impossible. But even as I wanted my training to continue, helping her— in— in whatever way I could, that became my reason to keep training.
"So, of course, my luck being what it is, the
very next time I go back she's at the center of a— Iwai-sensei called it a 'distortion'."
"
You could have led with that," Kisaragi said.
"No, I couldn't have, because you wouldn't know why I was in the middle of a distortion, trying to stop a wedding, with my clothes turning into this!" There was a moment of silence in the group.
Kisaragi ventured some words into the abyss. "So you were trying to stop a wedding where a girl version of Kaneko was the bride—"
"Oh, no, she was the groom," you corrected, gently. "The other Torioi was the bride."
"What the heck?" Kisaragi said, hitting the table and wheezing. "What?
What?"
"What now?" You asked.
"Tell me in what world you are the bride in any such wedding," Kisaragi said.
The other three looked at her, and, as one, gave a questioning "Ehhhhhh?"
"Hold on, hold on," you said, "Putting that aside, I wasn't the bride anyway, that Torioi was a guy,"
"— did you get any pictures?" Kisaragi said.
"No."
"Damn."
"Though I guess I'll keep it in mind if I come across someone like that with a sword and a torn up bridal gown again. Sadly, my phones are dead."
"
Why are— Wait, that's probably the most sensible thing you've said so far," Kisaragi said.
You snorted. "— continuing on, I got a little caught up in the idea of. Rescuing Kazue, and one thing led to another, and before I knew it, my clothes had turned into this, I was pulling crazy stunts I know I can't normally do, and the entire place had blossomed and let out caged firebirds."
"I'd ask if there were lilies and lavender too," Morisawa said with a smirk, "but I think that'd be a bit much."
You nodded. "Guess the dragon blew the budget on the bird cages."
"
There was a dragon!?" all four of them said at once.
"Leaving that aside—"
"You're just leaving aside a dragon!?" Kisaragi interrupted.
"
Leaving that aside— when the distortion was over I was still in this getup. I figured it would change back when I left the Understacks, but…" You sighed. "While that explains the getup, I think, I, uh, I figured something out about myself."
As you were in public, you wrote it down and turned it to them. "I understand if you're worried, or. Won't accept this from a friend of yours, but…"
All four of them looked at you with the blankest expression of non-surprise you had ever seen.
Asamiya silently rolled the d8, which clattered loudly.
"Oh, that's my number, isn't it?" Yumeno said, looking at the die.
[Well, at least they accept you. Momentum +1, 10/10.]
Real Life Concerns ended up delaying this a while, but everything's in the can, so let's see how this goes!
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